On Wednesday the 16th of March, Mark gave notice of a motion to condemn the Roman Catholic Church in Australia for its abject failure to protect children from sexual abuse. This motion is very dear to Mark’s heart and our core belief that he will be a voice for the vulnerable, this is a duty we take seriously, not just for animals but people also. When we allow the wrong doings to go unabated in our society, we become complicate in them.

The Animal Research Amendment (Primates) Bill will amend the Animal Research Act 1985 to prohibit the use, keeping or supplying of primates in carrying out animal research. It will prohibit the use, supply or keeping of primates in connection with animal research and will make it illegal for a person (including an accredited research establishment, a holder of an animal research authority or a licensed animal supplier) to use, keep or supply a primate in connection with animal research.

Primates are virtually the only animals taken from the wild in large numbers for bio-medical research. Even though breeding colonies exist, it is still estimated that over 1,000,000 primates are taken every year from the wild, with over two thirds being used for bio-medical research. The NSW Sydney facility at Wallacia breeds primates in captive colonies for research.

A great ape research ban, or severe restrictions on the use of great apes in research, is currently in place in the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and Austria. These countries have ruled that chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans are cognitively so similar to humans that using them as test subjects is unethical. Austria is the only country in the world where experiments on lesser apes, the gibbons, are completely banned too.

The use of animals for research and testing is totally unacceptable, inaccurate and outdated. Instead, Australian researchers should be using non-animal research methods which have been proved to be more accurate and of greater relevance, producing improved results faster. In 2013 Humane Research Australia commissioned a Nexus Research Poll which revealed that most Australians (60%) are opposed to the use of primates in research.

Bio-medical and pharmaceutical research claims the lives of an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 non-human primates worldwide each year, fueling the primate trade to meet demand. Despite this, strong evidence suggests that research using animal models provides unreliable results. Increasing numbers of scientists and clinicians are challenging animal experimentation on medical and scientific grounds.

That this House congratulates the Hon. Greg Hunt, MP, Federal Minister for the Environment, for retaining the Federal prohibition on the importation of lion products and other species that are endangered or at risk of becoming endangered, under section 303CA (1) of the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

That this House commends the Hon. Greg Hunt’s statement that “The process of really capturing or raising animals and then having them in a compound where they can’t run they can’t hide, they don’t have a fair chance, doesn’t really fit with the fair go ethos of this country let alone the broader issues of humane treatment of animals”.

That this House condemns the practice of “canned hunting” whereby animals are confined, abused and drugged prior to being released into a restricted area to be shot dead by tourists for the purpose of posing for photographs with the deceased animal and the harvesting of their body parts to be kept as trophies.

(4) That this House notes that:

(a) the Hon. Mark Pearson, MLC, has seen documentary evidence showing lions kept in conditions that resemble factory farms and that these confined animals, once released, are in no condition to be anything other than helpless victims of cowards with guns; and

(b) the killing of these defenceless animals does not in any way resemble hunting as it is understood by professional hunters.

(1) That this House notes that the Medical Advances Without Animals [MAWA] Trust operates as an independent medical research and educational trust which facilitates the development and use of non-animal based experimental methods by working cooperatively with the research community.

(2) That this House acknowledges and congratulates:

(a) the leading role that the MAWA is taking in replacing the use of animals and animal products in the field of medical research and consequent improvements in human health;

(b) the MAWA for directly funding a wide variety of research projects and advanced scholarships to support research into a vast range of diseases, disorders and disabilities in leading universities and research institutions Australia wide, such as research within the fields of immunology at the University of Sydney and regenerative medicine at the University of Western Sydney; and

(c) the recent renewal of the partnership between the MAWA and the Australian National University to establish the Australian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Research.

Motion by the Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS, on behalf of the Hon. MARK PEARSON, agreed to:

(1) That this House acknowledges and congratulates Senior Constable Jaqui Largo, Kings Cross Police Service, on her outstanding work in establishing and running Paws and Recover, a not-for-profit organisation that assists homeless people living on the streets to care for their companion animals that are often their one and only friend.

(2) That this House notes that:

(a) Paws and Recover networks with police, ambulance, emergency and mental health services in cases where animals are abandoned or would be left behind after domestic violence intervention, emergency, accident, health and mental health problems; and

(b) During the week of 18 May 2015 Paws and Recover was able to arrange an animal carer for a 90-year-old woman living alone with her companion dog so that she was able to be admitted to hospital for an operation to remove cancer.

(3) That this House acknowledges and congratulates the more than 70 volunteers, including police officers, who assist with this compassionate and very necessary service which contributes to the wellbeing of vulnerable members of the community and their “best mates”.